Many of the “lemmings” won’t, or will cheer that kind of behavior on.

Sad but true.

Good afternoon Yard.

Yesterday was nice and cool so I got the mowing done. The heat returns today and next week gets even hotter. Watering the plants later and a shot of fertilizer ; tomatoes, peppers, and cucumbers growing nicely.

Good afternoon Yard. I see that Jerry will be offering a new kitchen type knife next.

The weather cooperated today. I don't think it broke 80 here. And the smoke from wildfires wasn't noticeable.

I got my chores done early. It was nice enough, I set up a hammock, grabbed a book, and spent some quality time in the shade of a big tree.

That's a good way to enjoy life M/B.

Yup, retirement at it’s best.

We're off to vote.

Voting is good.

Grrr. Well it looks as if I’m gonna need to do any kind of “distance” walking it’s gonna need to be with a stick, at least for the remainder of the year (if not forever). Both my heart dr and spinal dr concours that I should be using a stick as not so much as a walking aid but as a precaution to keep from falling when my back decides to try and kill me with the worse pain I've ever felt.

I have regular canes but have found I do much better with a longer hiking staff length of 54-60 inches long. This allows me to grab the stick and remain fully upright until the pain passes (usually 10-30 seconds). I also have a nice Blackthorn staff, think a long Shillelagh. But my source is no longer able to ship sticks that are more than 44 inches long and I need one at least 10 inches longer than that. I’ve tried looking after every “lead” for them and they are always way too short.
Then I stumbled upon Black Locust as a viable substitute. It has many of the qualities of the blackthorn and MIGHT be easier to source here. It will all depend on the weight of a stick for the size I listed above and how capable it would be in keeping me upright if I had to suddenly bear my weight on it to keep from falling down.

Anyone have other good suggestions? I don’t want to go over about a pound and a half of weight for the stick.

Cold Steel used to sell white waxwood staffs that were about 6 feet long, and you could cut it to your desired length. I believe they were considered a martial arts type weapon. They are pretty light weight but very strong.

Had not thought of waxwood. Thanks Tom I’ll look into it.